Raising Kids Ain't Easy
by milesmorales
Summary: Story about the Red and Blue guards and Penny's home life.
1. Salutations

**Author's Notes:** First time writing a lengthy (Multiple chapter) story, so do bear with me should any delays occur. As usual, I own neither RWBY nor any associated properties, nor any other properties. Read and enjoy.

* * *

><p>Eric Blue was frustrated.<p>

If he were to offer an honest appraisal, this was not an unusual state for him to find himself in. His friends, close but few in number, would often say that he was only truly happy when he had something to complain about. And indeed his last assignment was challenging, infuriating, and left him with a strange sense of contentment. He would argue that it was his work that made him content and the irritants that plagued him left and right were obstacles to that contentment. But now here he was being taken away from his work and the biggest irritant in his life was going with him.

Erik Red.

Erik _Fucking_ Red.

They'd enrolled in the academy at the same time and ever since some joker in personnel had made it their personal mission to keep the pair a pair through thick or thin, most likely through some perverse sense of humor you can only develop after years of working in personnel offices.

Erik wasn't really a bad guy, mind. When it became apparent they had no interests in common and that no, Eric did not want to go out drinking (thank you very much) and no, Erik did not want to study for the upcoming history test, the two had congenially gotten out of one another's way. A remarkable feat, considering they were assigned as dorm mates and shared most of their classes. At first Eric had thought everything would go swimmingly. Red would return home after Blue had gone to bed and Blue would leave in the mornings well before Red awoke. The hour or so of superficial conversation (or better yet, silence) was acceptable.

That was eight years ago.

Four years at the academy. Four years of putting up with his messes and smells and smells from the messes that he promised to clean up but never quite did. Four years of listening to him play his lousy music and video games. Four years of watching him fall asleep in class and skate by with barely passing grades while Blue slaved for his excellent marks. And then they both wound up at Tangerine Base anyway (Thank you very much, anonymous bored personnel officer). At least those four years were spent in different quarters. Red was a part of the garrison and led a squad of Atlasian Knights while Blue was working in maintenance and control. They spent less time actually being in the same room, but they were now working together and now Blue had to put up with Reds lazy, disrespectful attitude first hand.

And then the news! Transfer! Promotion! Exciting new (classified) mission! Eric Blue packed up his belongings and headed to the car sent to pick him up only to find Erik already in the back and snoozing. Blue just shook his head. It was hardly a surprise at this point. He tossed his bag in the back and got into the passenger seat. The driver was a robot so conversation wasn't an option, or at least not a good one. Instead he flipped the radio to something he didn't hate and watched the scenery pass by the window.

Not that there was much scenery until you got to the city, just a bunch of pine trees and the occasional farm with Faunus in the field gathering a last harvest before the season ends. The workers would stop and watch the military car drive by with blank stares. Blue wondered how many would be running off a message alerting White Fang or another radical group about troop movements. The military didn't typically bother with convoys this close to Atlas, but the occasional Faunus taking potshots at military vehicles wasn't unheard of. Blue wasn't worried, just... cautious.

The city was something else though. At night you could see its lights from beyond the horizon, but during the day the first sights were glittering skyscrapers and the thirty foot high city wall.

"We will be entering Atlas through the Tundra gate," the driver voiced tonelessly. Blue didn't respond. Why bother with a robot?

The Tundra gate was military access only, so there weren't the delays and searches at the civilian gates. The guard asked for registration, orders, and Blue's identification. He glanced in the back seat to see Red, still asleep. "He's..." the guard checked his sheet, "Erik Red?" He smiled in realization. "Hey, Ericks Red and Blue. You guys must get along great."

Blue ignored the guard's jocularity. "Yeah, that's him. Can't stay awake on trips. You need him up?"

The guard waved him off. "No sir, you're fine. Welcome to Atlas."

The car drove on. Blue liked the wide boulevards and tall buildings worlds better than the rural wilds outside of the city. Familiar landmarks made him realize they were heading towards his old neighborhood and he briefly wondered if his assignment was near where he grew up, though this thought was quickly dismissed when the car turned onto the downtown expressway and headed straight towards Triangle Plaza.

Triangle Plaza was officially the Capital Square, but no one called it that any more. It was once an open rectangular piazza set between the capital building and Atlas military HQ. Then a few decades ago the Schnee Dust Company built a new company headquarters nearby and then purchased and demolished a couple city blocks to turn the piazza into an equilateral triangle in what one of the braver editorialists called "The most expensive message ever sent."

They drove straight past Military HQ towards the SDC building. Not a huge surprise. Special projects almost inevitably involved them somehow. "Red," Blue said towards the back of the car. "Red!"

Red jerked awake and looked around, presumably confirming that he was indeed in a car and trying to remember what exactly he was doing there. Getting a grasp on the where and why, he moved on to the who. "Blue?"

"Yeah, together again. We're almost there, thought I should give you a heads up."

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier? You had to be bored outta your mind."

"You can't stay awake on any ride longer than an hour," Blue replied nonchalantly.

"Well, that's true," Red admitted. "Still, wake me up next time."

"Sure thing," Blue lied.

The SDC security checkpoint was more thorough than the Tundra Gate check. Blue and Red were forced out of the car, their papers checked and double checked, and then (after a snide remark from Red about how most companies treated their customers better) they and their car went through an electronic scan.

"Why do you antagonize them?" Blue asked. "You know they have no sense of humor."

"Neither do you, but you've yet to send me through processing for it. Besides, they're punks." A passing employee glared at Red, and he replied with a shrug.

Blue sighed. "You're a captain now, that means they're going to take you more seriously. And they're going to expect you to take them more seriously." Red opened his mouth to say something, but Blue pressed on. "And if you don't, they're going to screw with you and everybody around you. And since we're apparently in this for the long haul, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't get me in the same messes you get into, okay?"

Red didn't say anything, and to his credit continued not saying anything as they were led inside and down to a lab underneath the complex. The lab was clean but cluttered with tools and mechanical parts. Bright white walls, stainless steel counters and tables. One wall was one long smart glass window into the hallway, currently set to opaque. Three people already stood inside talking quietly. An old man in a lab coat, a young woman in a military uniform and...

"General Ironwood, Sir!" Red and Blue both saluted.

"At ease, Captains," the general replied. "I have a mission for you two. It's rather unconventional, but I am confident in your ability to carry it out."

"We'll do our best, Sir," Blue said.

"I know you will. Your mission is going to be protecting and..." He trailed off, looking to his assistant and the scientist for a moment before finding the word. "Testing a new military asset. This mission could take years and will be extremely challenging."

"We're up to the challenge, Sir."

"Good. We'll get started right away then." Ironwood turned to his assistant. "Send in the asset."

She pushed a button on the desk and the door to what Blue had assumed was a closet slid open. Out stepped an orange haired girl in a light grey jumpsuit. She turned towards the group.

"Sal-U-Tations!"


	2. The Not-Real Girl

Eric Blue didn't understand what exactly was going on here, and by the look on Red's face he wasn't too sure either. Was this girl supposed to be a vital military asset? He knew some of the hunters and huntresses at the academy could do some incredible things, but this girl had to be around fifteen, couldn't be more than 5'5", and she was skinny as a rail. More than that though, she just looked too innocent. Orange hair, freckles, and big green eyes, sure, but also the way she looked at the strangers around her. Curiosity, but no fear or anxiety at all, like a child looking at a stray dog without even the consideration that it might be dangerous. It was somewhat unnerving.

"Captains," the man in the lab coat said. "I'd like to introduce Penny. Penny, this is Captain Erik Red and this is Captain Eric Blue."

The girl, Penny, took a slightly over-large step forward and held out her hand. Red took it and the girl shook it awkwardly. "It's a pleasure to meet you!" she exclaimed. She then reached for a handshake with Blue. Her grip was surprisingly strong and he wondered where she was hiding the muscle.

"Penny," the scientist said, "you have to say it twice."

"Oh, okay father." She turned back to Blue with a determined look on her face. "It's nice to meet you!" she exclaimed again, seriously.

What was with this girl?

"Sir?" Oh good, thought Blue, Red was going to ask the obvious question. "Is Penny the 'Military Asset' we're supposed to protect?"

"Yes she is, you're going to be working very closely with Doctor Polendina in making sure she is kept safe and is properly trained."

"How are we going to be training her? I mean, no offense, in what way is she an asset?"

General Ironwood smiled smugly. "She's a huntress and a soldier, aren't you Penny?"

"Yes sir!" Penny exclaimed, apparently in a perpetual state of excitement. "I'm combat ready!"

And then she fired off a salute.

A salute Red and Blue had seen thousands of times. A smooth calculated movement, exact in action and timing with a precision soldiers simply couldn't replicate. Not the living ones, anyway.

"It's not a real girl," Blue said quietly. He looked at Red who shared his bewildered expression and then to Ironwood, who was still wearing his self-satisfied smile. "It's not a real girl," Blue repeated to him. "It's a robot, you made a robot that can pass for human."

Doctor Poledina cleared his throat. He was glaring at Blue and the girl... robot... thing, whatever it was, had moved close to his side looking nervous and hurt. He knew it wasn't real, just some kind of simulated reaction but Blue still felt an almost overpowering urge to apologize to it. Before he could really consider it, he's saved by the interjection of Poledina.

"_She_ is a _synthetic person_, the world's _first_ synthetic person capable of generating an Aura." He turned, giving a sympathetic look at Penny. "Isn't that right, dear?" Penny nodded, shyly and Poledina returned his withering gaze to Blue. "And that makes her considerably more valuable than either one of you, do you understand?"

That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the briefing.

Now they were once again in a car driving through the city, Blue once more in the front, Red again in the back, a robot (Probably not the same robot) in the driver's seat. The car itself was different, a sleek luxurious _Schnee_ instead of the boxy utilitarian vehicle that brought them to the city. Also different was the robot in the back seat. It had been difficult getting her to leave and only the promise of frequent visits from Poledina was enough to move her. But after it stepped outside, Blue had real concerns about getting her to ever go back in.

Its eyes went wide and its mouth dropped at the sight of Triangle Plaza and it stood several seconds at the top of the stairs leading down from the entrance to the SDCHQ staring at the massive open space and the skyscrapers surrounding it. The sun was just starting to set so the sky was afire with orange and red and the buildings shone gold from the lights of offices and apartments inside. "First time outside?" Red asked.

Penny nodded. "I have never left the laboratory before. Father gave me a lot of data, but never..." It trailed off. "Nobody told me about the colors, they're..." It trailed off again, seemingly at a loss for words.

"Sensational?" Red supplied. Penny mouthed the word slowly before whispering it quietly, breaking it into syllables and feeling the word in its mouth. In the car her face was glued to the tinted windows, looking out at the city in wonder as it passed by. Red was pointing out some of local landmarks and Blue was half listening while reading through the personnel files of the supplementary guards they'd be managing. It was not a spectacular list, to be honest. Most of them were fresh out of the Academy, few of them had combat experience, and all of them had other duties they were expected to carry out in addition to their guard work. Ironwood had told them the primary effort would fall on the Ericks, but this was a little ridiculous. If he ever needed to get all these soldiers on an assignment at once, he'd have to clear it with four different officers.

"So," Blue heard from the back seat. Red was apparently trying a new tactic after failing to get a response out of the robot for the last ten minutes. "What do you think of the car?"

"Modified Schnee Luxury Cruiser L-419," it said flatly, eyes still watching the city. "Three-point-five-kay Dust-infuser, generating 400 horsepower and 370 foot-pounds of torque, capable of one hundred thirty seven miles per hour. Zero to sixty in five-point-three seconds." It turned to look at the surprised Red with a smile on its face. "The bulletproofing will probably slow it significantly however."

"Wow. You must really like cars."

"No," it said, turning back to the window, the smile quickly fading. "I was pre-loaded with many profiles on Schnee Dust Company weapons and equipment." It hesitated before continuing softly. "I never really liked machines..."

Blue turned in his seat to look at Red. He was looking back expectantly, obviously hoping Blue would have something to say to make things less awkward. That was clearly a lost cause, Blue thought. He hadn't had any luck in keeping his own foot out of his own mouth today, he was in no position to save the day now. Red seemed to get the message, but something still needed to be said. Nobody wanted to be around a moody gir-

Robot. Nobody wanted to be around a moody robot.

"Well," Red started, uncertainly. "I really like machines. I have ever since I was a kid. Used to make model airplanes and had posters of cars all over my wall. Some people see them as just gadgets or whatever, but they have real character and real beauty to them." Penny was still staring out the window, but her eyes were still and unfocused at the city that moved by them. "But you know," Red continued, seriously. "They're a lot prettier when they smile."

Penny closed her eyes briefly and smiled a soft, sad smile at Red. "Thank you," she whispered. The rest of the ride was in silence, but Penny's small smile never left her.


	3. Day Planner

"She's tucked in for the night," Red announced, waltzing into the kitchen where Blue was sitting in front of a laptop, eating bell peppers and beef out of a delivery box with a pair of chopsticks. "Well," Red continued, shaking his head, "plugged in anyway. Any more of that?" he pointed at the box. Blue gestured to the counter where the rest of the night's meal sat. Red grabbed a fork and a box of chicken and rice and dug in, leaning back against the counter. "She wasn't happy about it."

"Wasn't happy about what?" Blue replied absently, not looking up from the laptop.

"Being sent to bed. It's only 21:00, she wanted to stay up later."

"Erik," Blue said, eyes peeking over the top of his computer, "it can hold a charge for three days. Up to a week if it uses power conservatively. Are you going to stay up for seven days straight?"

"She could at least stay up until we're heading to bed," Red said defensively.

"We have work to do, big day tomorrow."

"Sure, boss," Red said with not quite enough attitude for Blue to call him out on. "What are we doing?"

"Clothes shopping."

Red stopped eating, fork halfway to his mouth. "Excuse me?"

Blue set his box down and crossed his arms. "Clothes shopping," he repeated firmly. "We need to test the team and the sooner, the better."

Red nodded and resumed eating. "Sure, and the clothes shopping part of that?"

"It's a mall; big open spaces, lots of people, multiple entrances and exits. Should be a challenge and we'll get to see how the team works together. The longer we wait to do that, the harder it's gonna be." Red nodded. They had twenty four guards as support, but they were going to be support for other operations too. The more time that passed before scheduling an assignment, the more disruptive it'd be and the less likely they'd get approval to get everybody together.

"You're going to make them seem unreliable," Red warned. "They won't like that."

"Well," Blue said, gesturing towards a stack of profiles lying on the table, "judging from these, they're really _not_ terribly reliable."

"First," said Red as he slid into a chair and plopped his feet onto the empty seat at the table, "they're not actually that bad. They're not great," he rushed, seeing Blue's skeptical look, "but they're not bad. Secondly, you can't judge people by those things. I mean look at me: my record's crap but they made me a captain."

He was smiling a cocky smile that gave him what Blue's grandmother would have called "A face in need of a fist."

Blue had long since learned to just roll with it. "I've been meaning to ask, how _did_ you manage to get promoted?"

Red grinned wider. "No idea. Someone wasn't paying much attention, I guess."

"Yeah, that sounds like command," Blue said dryly. "Anyway, we're going to hit up the Lone Pine Mall-"

"I thought it was the Twin Pines Mall," Red interrupted.

Blue frowned and double checked his computer screen. "No, it's Lone Pine. Anyway-"

"I'm sure it used to be Twin Pines," Red replied in a theatrically nonchalant manner.

Blue glared at him. "They must have changed it. Anyw-"

"Why do you suppose they changed it?"

"Look," Blue snapped, sharply, "I sent the robot to bed for the night because we have serious work to do. Now if you are just going to goof off, I can send _you_ to bed and bring _it_ down here to plan out tomorrow."

Red looked over Blue, carefully appraising him and Blue stared right back. Neither spoke for several seconds. Finally Red spoke.

"You know, you were a lot more fun in the Academy."

"No," Blue replied sternly, "I wasn't."

"No, you weren't," Red said with a sigh. Another moment's pause passed before he continued. "Fine, if you want me to be serious I don't like the choice. It's in the Brown District, it's not a nice neighborhood. There are going to be a lot of Faunus there, and even if they're not a real threat sending a couple squads of armed soldiers there is going to rile them up."

"The military _does_ run this city," though not as completely as they used to, Blue thought, "they should get used to that sooner or later."

"Sure," Red waved his hand dismissively, "but are you going there because it's best for the mission or because you want to set policy?"

Blue pointed a finger at Red and opened his mouth to speak but couldn't find a response. Red, having made his rare valid point, graciously allowed him a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Okay," he said slowly, "I still think we should go to Lone Pines. We need to get our guys used to being alert at all times, and this will do that in a relatively controlled environment." Red nodded. He didn't look very happy, but he was willing to go along with it. "You're right about not wanting to stir up trouble though," Blue continued, "so how do we minimize our impact?"

"No uniforms," Red said instantly. "We go in civvies, weapons concealed, pistols only." He rubbed the bridge of his nose, thinking. "That means we also need to let the mall know before we show up. Don't want their security freaking out."

"And that will keep us from agitating the locals?"

"Probably not," Red admitted, "but it'll lessen it." He smiled suddenly. "Plus if we're in civvies they'll probably think we're SDC."

Blue smiled back. "Any objections to them getting the blame for the disturbance?"

"Nah," Red drew the word out happily. "Fuck 'em."

They shared a laugh. Nearly every soldier in Atlas was united in disdain for the corporation. The SDC was just a bunch of weapons designers who seemed to think the military was cannon fodder, there to push their market domination to the corners of the map. Their weapons were necessary, but nobody owed them a sliver of loyalty, not while the military paid for everything in treasure and blood.

They spent the next hour going over the plan for the morning. Two guards keeping an eye on the robot drivers and the parking lot, six staying on the upper level, another six on a wide perimeter in the store, and the rest patrolling the mall in pairs. Red and Blue would be on close detail, next to Penny the whole time. The only sticking point...

"We need Sergeant Gelb on hand for the close detail," Red reiterated.

"We really don't," Blue stated for what felt like the twentieth time, "she's fine on auto detail."

"We can replace her with Braun."

"Braun's a private, he doesn't have experience commanding robots. If there's an emergency we'll need the reinforcements."

"Do you expect an emergency?"

"No, which is why I'm a little surprised you're so insistent on upping Penny's immediate protection." Blues eyes narrowed. "What's your real reason for wanting her there?"

Red shifted nervously. "Fine, I'm a bit worried about Penny. If something goes wrong, neither of us are properly trained to fix her." He gestured at Blue, "you have _some_ training, sure, but Gelb," he tapped her file insistently, "Gelb is much better qualified." He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "That's my thinking, if you want to go ahead and risk it, well... On your head be it."

Blue pursed his lips, thinking and slowly nodded. "Yeah," he said, "yeah, I see..." He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "But really, what's your reason?"

Red tossed his head back and groaned. "Fine," he said, defeated. "She's hot. She's so hot. Look at her picture: total hottie."

"If I ever had any respect for you, I want you to know it's gone now."

"That's fair," Red conceded, but as Blue reached for the files to clear the table Red stopped him. "Um, actually..."

"You're not getting the hottie, Erik."

"No, I mean we do need her, or one of the other girls at least."

"This isn't a dating service."

"No," Red waved his hand dismissively, "we need someone to sweep the bathroom and changing room."

Two good points in the same day, Blue thought. This job really suits him. Might as well give him a little reward for good work...

"Okay," said Blue, "Sergeant Gelb is on perimeter detail. Braun will go upstairs and replace Sergeant Oster who will replace Gelb on Auto detail. Happy?"

Red was smiling that irksome grin again. "Absolutely."

"Good," Blue said, gathering up the files, "then let's get this place cleaned up and turn in. It's a big day tomorrow."


	4. Waking Up On A Busy Day

The house they had been set up in was a nice one. A three story townhouse in a nice neighborhood, mostly populated by military families. The top floor held two bedrooms, one for Red which faced the street and one for Penny overlooking a small plain back yard and alleyway beyond. Blue's room was on the second floor, as was a computer simulator suite. The first floor housed the kitchen and a spacious den. The basement had been converted into a dojo and gym, and here is where Red and Blue found themselves side by side on treadmills that morning.

"So we go out," Red said, "shop around a bit, buy some pretty dresses, come back here, and get a start on combat training."

"That's the plan," Blue replied, shortly. Red had much better endurance than him and he didn't have much oxygen to waste on talking.

"Any wiggle room in that plan?"

"Maybe," Blue panted. "Why?"

"I thought we could stop by the bookstore."

Blue didn't really know what he expected to hear, but that wasn't it. "Bookstore?" he asked. "Really?"

"Well," Red started, "they sell more than books."

"Ah." That made sense.

"Plus they sell comics," Red continued.

Even more sense. Blue hit the power button on the treadmill and let it slowly wind down before taking a swig of water from a bottle and resting his elbows on the handrails. Red powered down his own treadmill, looking annoyingly composed for how long they'd been running.

"They're issuing reprints of old _X-Ray and Vav_ volumes," Red said, seemingly unconcerned over Blue's distress. "They just rereleased _The Death of Jack DeWolffe_, first time it's been in stores in fifteen years, been looking forward to picking it up." He looked over at Blue, who was still leaning over breathing heavily. "Hey, you okay, man?" Red laughed, "Need to lie down for a minute?"

Blue pushed himself to standing and stepped off of the machine. "Bite me," he said breathlessly.

Red just laughed, "No need to be upset, we can't all be in the ninetieth percentile." He flexed flamboyantly.

Blue rolled his eyes. Red had been using that line ever since the first physical trials at the academy, and of course Blue had been using it right back ever since the results of the tactical exam came back.

"We're not going to a bookstore," Blue said, bringing the conversation back round "we have enough on our plate without piling on."

"That's fair, but we should get groceries unless we want to eat take out every meal."

Blue sighed in frustration. "Write up a list, we'll send out the troops. We're not changing the schedule."

"But-"

"We're not changing the schedule," Blue snapped, "I don't know what your problem with this is, but get it together. We have a job to do. Now get cleaned up and let's go wake the bot."

"Yes sir," Red said, sourly.

Blue was already dressed and waiting in Penny's room when Red came in. The room was sizable, for a city house, and was sparsely furnished. A small writing desk and chair sat in a corner under a pair of empty bookshelves, and a chest of drawers was in the opposite corner. A simple floor lamp completed the room's furnishings. Well, that and the pod. The pod was a six foot tall semi-tubular cylinder standing upright against a wall. Penny was currently housed within its closed doors, plugged in and waiting to be brought back online.

"Just a heads up," Red said, walking over to the pod, "we really need to buy PJs today."

Blue scrunched his face in confusion. "Why's that," he asked. "Her clothes don't get dirty in her sleep or anything."

"No, it's just..." Red hesitated. Blue narrowed his eyes. Was Red actually blushing? Red tried again. "Her jumpsuit zips up from the front, but all her plugs are in the back."

Blue scrunched up his face in confusion. Zips from the front, plugs in the back, what did that have to do with...

Oh.

"So I'm guessing it's anatomically correct then?" Blue asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose, trying to cut off the headache this day was already giving him.

"I didn't look," Red said adamantly, "averted my eyes and everything. She's correct enough to make it awkward though."

Blue sighed and turned his back on the pod. Making a robot that can pass for human made a sort of sense, infiltration was an important quality for an agent. But a fifteen year old girl? She was either built to infiltrate Huntsmen academies or... something much more disturbing.

Before Blue could dwell on the implications any longer, Red pressed a button and the pod doors slid open with a user-friendly electronic tone, revealing the girl inside, her jumpsuit bunched around her waist though Red steadfastly refused to look any lower than her neck. A second passed and before her eyes snapped open. "Good morning, Captain Red!" she exclaimed loudly, making Red jump. Red muttered a greeting back, and busied himself with checking Penny's vitals and reaching behind her to unplug the power umbilical. "Good morning Captain Blue!" she said, turning her head towards him. He waved a hello, back still turned towards her. She looked around the room briefly and spoke up again. "Is my father here?"

"Uh," Red stammered, caught off guard by the question. "No, Penny, I'm sorry, Dr. Polendina isn't here."

"Oh," Penny replied, despondently. "Will we be going to his lab then?"

"We'll talk about that after you're dressed," Blue said, still facing away from the girl. "Red, is she operational?"

"I'm combat ready!" Penny interjected, snapping off a salute.

"System checks out," Red agreed, returning the salute lackadaisically, making Penny giggle at the informalness.

"Alright," Blue said, starting for the door and waving for Red to follow. "There's an academy uniform in the dresser, put it on and meet us downstairs."

Penny watched the two soldiers leave before stepping out of her jumpsuit and walking over to the dresser, feeling the carpet under her feet. She spread and wiggled her toes in the shag, first individually and then altogether, relishing the feeling. The lab didn't have any carpets, and at the moment she couldn't understand why. It felt so much better than cold tile. Why wasn't everything carpeted? She hasn't felt concrete or asphalt, but that didn't look very comfortable. Grass looked pleasant, but how nice could it be if they planted it all outside? They would have planted some inside instead of carpets, surely. She wanted to lie on the floor and feel it all over, but stopped herself short. She needed to get dressed. Captains Red and Blue were waiting for her and they were going to talk about going to Father's lab.

Maybe they were going soon. Maybe as soon as she got dressed. She certainly hoped so. They had told her that she wasn't going to see Father and General Ironwood as much when she moved out, but it had been hours, even discounting the completely unnecessary recharge session. The techs at the lab would keep her charging far more often than necessary too, she mused, pulling the clothes one by one out of the dresser and spreading them out carefully on the floor. The techs seemed less uncomfortable with it than Captain Red did, however. Maybe he wasn't used to it? Maybe that meant she'd have to be powered down less. That would be most agreeable. But back to the matter at hand...

She stared at the clothes on the floor for a moment, working over in her mind how the pieces fit together. She found herself enjoying the exercise. While she missed her father and to a lesser extent General Ironwood and the rest of the techs in the lab, they were constantly telling her how to do things. Being left to figure out even something this simple was a pleasantly novel experience. Remembering the few uniformed women she had seen and making a few educated guess, Penny quickly set to work. Underwear, leggings, shoes, skirt (workable, but perhaps put the shoes on after next time), bra, blouse (might be faster to tuck in if put on before the skirt?), and then the tie...

She had never seen someone tie a Windsor before and couldn't quite work out how to make the knot. The specific knot was important, everyone wore it the same way, like shoelaces (which she was taught by her Father) but she grew increasingly frustrated trying to picture the mechanics of recreating it. Finally she gave up and instead tied a basic slip knot, figuring that doing it wrong was probably better than not doing it at all.

She then slipped on the vest and buttoned it carefully. She enjoyed the buttons. Slipping a button through a buttonhole was a satisfying tactile sensation. They weren't as practical or pleasant sounding as zippers of course, but she could certainly see the appeal. She looked over herself as best she could, wishing she had a mirror, and after a satisfactory self-appraisal hurried downstairs, ready to meet the day.


	5. Domesticity

"...And then slide it up so it's tight, but not uncomfortable," Red said, fixing Penny's tie, "and you're all done!" Red smiled at the girl, who had been watching and listening to his instructions intently. She had proudly entered the kitchen, but had quickly turned embarrassed when Red had burst into laughter at her slip knot. He'd felt bad and was making amends by showing her how to tie it properly. Blue, to his credit, had said nothing and was impassively leaning against the kitchen counter watching the pair. "So you think you got it?" Red asked the girl and she nodded, happily. "Good," he continued, untying the tie, "let's see you give it another shot."

She took the tie in her hands and got to work, her fingers moving deftly and lips silently mouthing the instructions Red had told her as he'd demonstrated to her. Red backed himself to the counter beside Blue and watched on. After she finished she looked up at the two soldiers for approval. Red nudged Blue and gestured at Penny, grinning an impressed grin. Blue nodded approvingly. "It learns pretty quick," he said. Red rolled his eyes. Couldn't he be a _little_ impressed? Or at least drop the impersonal pronoun. Red could swear he saw Penny wince when she heard that.

"Can we go to my father's lab now?" she asked hopefully.

"No Penny," Blue sighed, "the next appointment with Dr. Polendina is on Sunday, I'm afraid we won't be visiting him until then."

Penny's face fell and her shoulders slumped. Her voice broke as she asked "Is it because I didn't tie my tie right? I didn't know how to do it, but it's okay now."

Blue's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "No," he said, "no, that has nothing to do with it. Polendina is going to keep checking up on you, but he wants to make sure you get good training and you develop yourself. So we're not going to be seeing a lot of him for a while."

When this failed to cheer the girl up, Blue nudged Red and made a gesture towards Penny. "Go on then," he said. "You're the good cop."

Well, that was hard to deny. He approached Penny and put a gentle hand on her shoulder and bent over to her eye level. "Hey," he said, smiling softly, "I know it's scary being away from home and your family, but it's gonna be alright. Blue and I are going to take good care of you, and we're gonna have a lot of fun together too. Want to know what we're going to do today?"

Penny nodded slowly. "Yes, sir," she said.

"We're going to the mall," Red said, "and we're going shopping, and you'll get to pick out some new clothes. Doesn't that sound like fun?"

Penny looked at Red with a confused look. "Why do I need more clothes?"

"Well," Red started and quickly realized he didn't really have anywhere to go with that. "I guess you don't really _need_ any, but they're nice to have. And they're fun to shop for. And of course you get to go out and see more of the city and meet new people-" Blue coughed and Red looked to find the soldier giving him a pointed look. He turned back to Penny and continued. "Well, not so much with the meeting people, we'll need to keep most of them away. But you'll be able to _see_ new people. That's something."

Penny seemed to consider this for a moment before beaming.

Minutes later they were in the car, pulling out of their driveway along with the guards living on either side of their house and across the street. Though they couldn't see, they knew on the next street over the three houses behind them were emptying as well. Blue sat in the front seat again, talking to Penny in the back seat, giving her instructions. Stay close to Red and Blue, don't talk to people, report anyone who looks suspicious, and if anything happens run back to the car. Penny paid rapt attention, but soon after he finished she turned her attention to the scenery passing by.

Approaching the Brown District was a slow transition. Townhomes gave way to apartment buildings, crowded gray concrete slabs rising up from streets that seemed to get narrower as they drove along. Streetlights and fire hydrants became spaced farther and farther apart and as the number of cars parked on the street decreased in both number and quality, window bars and graffiti became more common. Penny, however, was focused on something she found much more interesting.

"Are those faunus?" it asked, pointing against the window.

Blue looked over. Faunus weren't uncommon throughout most of the city, but the Brown District was particularly crowded by them. The three men on the street corner were indeed faunus, dressed in denim and work boots and in animated conversation waiting for the light to change. One had a tail and another some sort of weird ears. A fox or a cat or something, Blue couldn't tell. He didn't see any faunus traits on the third man, but he was wearing a ski cap and Blue bet there were ears or horns or something under there.

"Yeah," Blue said to the back seat, "have you never seen one before?"

"No," the robot replied, "there weren't any faunus in my father's lab."

"Not surprising," Red chipped in, "I can't imagine there are many faunus working for the SDC, let alone in R&D."

"Why?" Penny asked.

"It's a security risk for starters," Blue said. "Not every faunus is a radical, but with stuff that sensitive you just don't take the risk." He turned around to look directly at Penny. "That reminds me, keep an eye open for them while we're out and if you see one of them acting suspicious, tell one of us immediately."

Before Penny could respond, Red cut in to expand on Blue's answer. "They also just don't get the same education, so their options are more limited. The schools here are terrible and the economy is worse. Most of these folks never went to an academy beyond basic schooling."

"Maybe they wouldn't have as many difficulties if they focused on fixing their problems instead of throwing petrol bombs and complaining about how they're 'oppressed,'" Blue said bitterly.

"No argument here," Red replied, easily. "Atlas is the greatest kingdom on Remnant, if you want to succeed the opportunity is always there for those who work for it. Look at me, my folks were poor as anyone but I worked my keister off and got into the military academy and now I'm a captain, against all odds." Red's voice swelled with a pride Blue would have found just a bit over the top if he didn't agree with the sentiment. Penny just looked thoughtful.

"Are there many faunus in the military?" it asked.

"No," Red replied, "faunus aren't allowed in the military. They're disruptive to the unit."

"Oh," Penny said, a confused look on her face. "Then how do they get into the military academy?"

Red hesitated, his face mirroring Penny's perplexion. "They don't," he said.

Before Penny had a chance to respond the driver chimed to inform them they were approaching their destination and pulled into the Lone Pines mall and parked alongside the other nine cars in their little convoy. Blue got out of the car, motioning to Penny and Red to stay put. The other guards had piled out of their cars and were now standing in the lot awaiting command.

"Alright," Blue said, "you all know your responsibilities?" He waited a moment for the chorus of 'yes sir's to come in. "Last chance for questions," he offered. Hearing none, he continued. "Okay, I want a quick sweep by Balcony and Patrol teams, radio in when you're done." None of the soldiers moved. Blue frowned and barked "Now! Go!" and the two teams jumped and hurriedly walked towards the mall. Blue shook his head in frustration. It was just first ops jitters, but he really hoped they shape up fast.

The rest of the guards milled about in the parking lot, waiting for the order to move in and generally looking conspicuous. Blue stood by his car, trying and failing to look relaxed and caught himself checking to make sure his pistol was still there three times. He couldn't see into the car through the tinted windows, but he suspected Red and Penny were equally nervous. Well, Red anyway. Who knows what the robot was thinking.

After what seemed like an age reports started coming back to him over the radio. Third floor clear. Second floor clear. First floor clear. Department store clear. All ready to go then. Blue opened the back door of the car for Penny and was greeted by the image of the robot with its eyes squeezed shut, cheeks puffed up, and sticking its tongue out as it pulled on its ears. Red was guffawing next to her and started laughing harder as Penny realized she could now be seen and let the air out of her cheeks with an embarrassed and unceremonious "Pbbbt."

"We're ready," Blue said, sternly. "Let's go." Penny was blushing bright as the sun and looking at the ground as it exited the car, but Red was still shamelessly giggling when he got out. "You know," Blue said, looking to his partner as they formed ranks on either side of Penny and the other guards spread out around them, "it's the professionalism that you bring to the table that really makes you such an inspiration and roll model for the kids."

"Aw shucks Captain," Red drawled, "I just do what I do, ya know?"

Blue shook his head, exasperated, but didn't press the issue. However irreverent and immature Red acted, he was keeping his head on a swivel and staying vigilant. Blue knew he was taking mental notes on entrances and exits, possible ambush points, and making an assessment of every person they passed. Grudgingly he admitted if the others were going to take after someone they could do worse than Red.

But hopefully they'd do better.

The department store didn't have the biggest selection in the world, and most of it was a couple years out of style, but Penny still looked overwhelmed by the choices available to it.

"What should I get," it asked.

"Well," Blue said, suddenly feeling a little unprepared to teach a robot how to dress itself, "you should get whatever you like." Seeing that was less than helpful he tried again. "Okay, try picking out one or two primary colors and match them with neutral tones, tans, white, gray, brown, black, etc. So what color do you like?"

Penny thought for a moment. "Green," she exclaimed happily.

"No," Red interjected, eyes scanning the store. "She shouldn't get green."

Penny's face fell and Blue felt a familiar headache returning. "Why," he asked, "shouldn't she get green?"

"Green's a bad guy color," Red replied, as if that made all the sense in the world. "Green, purple, orange, and black. She needs good guy colors. Red, blue, yellow, or white."

Blue rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to will away the tension. "Is this another one of your comic book things?"

Red shuffled his feet and stubbornly refused to make eye contact. "Maybe," he said and paused before continuing. "Alright, yeah, the printers needed the contrast so they divided up primary and secondary colors into good and bad guy colors. But," he said, pointing an accusing finger at Blue, "that doesn't mean I'm wrong. We all wear white, blue, and yellow too. "

Blue groaned. Was nothing going to be easy today?

"What about X-Ray?" Blue asked. "He wears green and black."

"I knew you were going to say that," Red said, energetically. "See, he started off a villain in _Mogar the Barbarian_ and only later became a good guy and teamed up with Vav. And both of them wear red, blue, white, and yellow."

"So why didn't he change costumes?" Blue asked, glancing at Penny who was just standing there awkwardly, listening to the conversation.

"Well first it's iconic," Red said. "Can't mess with a good thing. Secondly, the printing technology got better starting about forty years ago and they were able to bring out more contrast so it wasn't as necessary." Suddenly he stiffened, seeing something. "Hey," he said and nodded out into the store, "heads up."

Blue looked where Red had gestured. There was a faunus several rows down from the trio, young and wearing a sweater with the hood up, but Blue could make out horns peeking out from underneath. Goat, maybe. He was staring at a rack of women's clothes with an attentiveness that was out of place for a teenage boy. Blue brought his wrist to his mouth and spoke into the radio, calling a guard over to shadow the kid in the hoodie. As soon as the kid saw the plainclothes guard heading his way he immediately turned and left, head down save for a quick glance at Penny.

The Ericks watched him until a guard came on over the radio telling them he'd left the store. Penny didn't seem to have noticed the episode at all and was rummaging through some clothes on a table. Blue turned his mind back to the conversation they were having.

"So ultimately what you're saying," he said, "is that Penny shouldn't wear green because of a doctrine comic book makers haven't kept up with in four decades?"

Red was quiet for a minute.

"Well it sounds silly when you put it like that..."

"Penny," Blue said, turning to the robot, "get green."

Together they picked out several outfits and she carried them into the dressing rooms to try them on. Captains Red and Blue stood outside, looking out at the rest of the store.

"So this has been fun," Red said, nonchalantly.

Blue snorted derisively.

"No, I mean it," Red pressed. "Reminds me a lot of shopping with my sisters. Really takes me back."

"I don't have any siblings," Blue said, simply.

"Well trust me," Red assured, "this is pretty similar. It's downright domestic." He looked over at his partner quizzically. "You don't like it at all?"

Blue considered the question. This was a military assignment, and he doubted many people went clothes shopping with bodyguards and automatic pistols, and Penny was... Penny was Penny. But there was something about this that even made putting up with Red agreeable. He opened his mouth to answer when he heard the changing room door open behind him and Penny speak up.

"Captain Red, I cannot figure out how to get these leggings to stay up."

The captains turned to look at it and quickly turned away. "Penny!" Red exclaimed, "Go back in the room!'

"But-"

"Listen to Red, Penny!" Blue snapped, blushing profusely.

They heard the changing room door open and close again and Blue got back on the radio. "Sergeant Geld to the changing room, Sergeant Geld to the changing room now, please."

"What's the problem?" her voice came over the radio and the two could see her hurrying towards them.

Blue didn't respond over the radio, instead waiting for her to get near before saying "Penny is having some trouble with her clothes and needs some help."

Geld looked confused for a moment but headed in to the changing rooms anyway.

"Also, if you could tell her to not walk around naked in public, that'd be great," Red called after her. He turned to Blue and snorted a laugh. "So much for domesticity," he said.

Blue returned the laugh and took a deep breath. "Hey," he said, "do you still think we should go to the bookstore?"

Red looked up surprised and nodded. "You changing your mind?"

"Yeah," Blue said amicably, "I mean we're already here, right?"

Red nodded again and the two lapsed into a comfortable silence until Penny and Sergeant Geld came out. Penny had decided to wear some of her new clothes home, a black and green pair of leggings, beige blouse, and olive skirt. A black and green collar finished the ensemble, but Red opined that it didn't really look complete and Blue couldn't disagree.

On the way to the cash register Blue saw and grabbed a large pink bow from a table and clipped it into Penny's hair. He said it wasn't really important, but when she appraised herself in a mirror and deemed it "Sensational!" he found he was smiling in spite of himself.


	6. First Steps

Blue opened the car door for Penny and she slowly slid out. Her nose was pressed into one of the books they had purchased, a collection of fables from Mistral they had found in the children's classics section. In theory they were supposed to have a comprehensive list of approved materials for Penny, but one had yet to appear and the guards had to rely on their best judgment. Mostly Blue's best judgment.

"Yeah, that one's fine."

"_The Reign of the Mad King_ is fine?"

"Sure."

"It's not too violent?"

"It has a little violence."

"How much is a little?"

"Well..."

"It's a lot, isn't it?"

"It's really a _lot_ less than the sequels."

"Penny, put it back."

They had wound up getting a stack of children and young adult books that looked inoffensive enough. Penny had also grabbed an anthology of robot stories from the adult section. Neither Red nor Blue had read _Automatic Dreams_, but were assured by the bookseller that it was inoffensive and Penny had been excited enough at the prospect of stories about Robots that they had acquiesced.

"Penny," Blue said, "take your books and stuff upstairs and put them away. Clothes in the dresser, books on the shelf."

"Yes sir," Penny said, absently. It had rounded to the back of the car, nose still in its book, and Red was hanging bag after bag full of books and clothes onto a free arm. Red finished loading the last of the bags onto Penny and closed the trunk of the car.

"Only need one trip, right?" Red teased.

Penny looked up from her book briefly and smiled at Red. "Yes sir!" Penny said, before turning back to her stories and walking up the stairs into the house.

"Penny," Blue called after the robot, "change into armor when you're done and meet us downstairs."

It halted on a step and turned to Blue. "Do I have to change? I did it twice today already."

"Yes, Penny," Blue replied, "we're doing combat training, armor is non-negotiable."

"But I don't need it," Penny protested, "I'm combat ready!"

"Not without armor, young lady," Red chimed in. "Listen to your-" Red coughed, cutting off the last word. "CO. Listen to your CO."

Penny looked over the two before huffing in frustration and turning back to her book and disappearing into the house. Red chuckled, watching her go before turning to find Blue staring at him. "What?" Red asked with a smile.

"You know it's a robot, right?" Blue asked.

Red's grin slipped from his face. "I know," he said seriously.

"Just checking," Blue said.

Red shifted uncomfortably but said nothing. The other guards were coalescing in front of the townhome. Blue addressed them and started the debriefing. A quick congratulations on an uneventful first mission, some criticism to Balcony Team for not shifting position on cue, and a note that the perimeter team needs to be better at keeping an eye on suspicious persons. Red thought back to the faunus in the hoodie. Probably just a curious kid, nothing to worry about. Probably.

But they needed to know what to look out for. Today it was just a faunus pun-

Person. But next time it could be serious. White Fang wasn't very active inside the city, but they had plenty of sympathizers and even disorganized faunus could be dangerous. Have to watch out for regular people too, of course, but faunus are just more likely to be troublemakers in this regard.

Blue finished his debriefing and turned it over to Red to issue new orders. Two guards checking out the cars and drivers, six maintaining neighborhood security, another six ordered to rest so they can take the night shift, and a couple given the important duty of stocking the Erick's fridge. The rest were dismissed to report in for their other duties. Blue knew the new orders, of course, he helped make them with Red, but Blue wanted to make sure the team knew he was operational command and field command was on Red. Red's comment that the team probably already knew that since the pair were wearing Operational Command and Field Command insignia on their uniforms was met with a withering stare and no comment. Red decided to believe that was because his wit went over his partner's head and had simply moved on.

Red eventually finished assigning duties and as the group dispersed he turned to Blue. "Well," Red said, "that all went well, don't you think?"

Blue hm'd noncommittally in response. Red didn't take the lack of enthusiasm personally, Blue was rarely generous with praise. He was rarely generous with criticism too, which Red thought was fair but dull. Not that dull was always a bad thing, but a _little_ pep would be nice to see now and then.

"Probably shouldn't have given out assignments while holding a comic book," Blue said, gesturing to the volume of _X-Ray and Vav_ in Red's hands. "Not very professional."

Red looked down at the book in his hand. "Whoops," he said. "Think anybody noticed?"

"Yeah," Blue replied, as the pair turned to walk into the house, "but I'm not that worried about it."

"Because something was going make 'em realize I'm not professional sooner or later anyway?" Red asked, closing and dead bolting the door behind him.

"Exactly." The two headed up the stairs to change into their armor. They heard the soft creaking of floorboards as Penny moved to and fro in her room. "Hey," said Blue, "I was wondering, why didn't you pick up any issues? You seemed happy enough to see they had them when we got there."

"The floppies?" Red asked, surprised Blue showed any interest. "They were all already boarded and sealed in bags."

"So? All your 'floppies' are in bags."

"Yeah, but you don't want to buy new issues that are sealed. You see-"

"Is this going to be a whole thing?" Blue cut in.

"Yeah."

"Can we skip it then? I don't care that much."

"No problem," Red said, amicably. They'd get around to it eventually, he was sure. Blue disappeared into his room and Red continued up to his. He stopped and rapped on Penny's door at the top of the stairs. "Are you getting dressed yet?" he called.

"Almost, Captain Red," Penny replied from behind the door. "I am currently optimizing the closet space, I should be ready shortly."

Red decided he didn't have a comment for that.

"Alright," he said through the door, "meet you downstairs."

Blue was already in the basement, messing with the control panel on the inside wrist of his armor when Red walked in and took a seat on one of the benches sat against the wall. It looked like Blue was doing something important, so it was probably a good idea to let him do his thing without distractions or interruptions.

"So," Red exclaimed loudly, deciding this wasn't the time or place for good ideas, "what'cha doin' there?"

"Say that again," Blue whispered without looking up, "same volume, please."

Red scrunched his face in confusion, but repeated the question. "So, what'cha doin' there?"

"I think we got it," Blue said, tapping at his wrist. A screen on the wall lit up with video of the two and the Red on the screen repeated his inquiry. "Sound levels are good," Blue said and pressed another button, making the screen disappear.

Red looked around the room for cameras, but failed to see any. "I didn't know this place was wired," he said.

"The whole house is," Blue said absently. "Just needed to do some troubleshooting to get everything set up."

"Wait, so you can just peek into any room whenever you want?"

"Could," Blue replied, tapping at the screen on his wrist. "Hallway, foyer, kitchen..." As he spoke images from the rooms flashed across the wall and disappeared. "You'll get access as soon as we link it to your commands." He turned and looked pointedly at Red for the first time since Red entered the basement. "Security and training only. It logs who accesses it, so I'll know if you're just messing around with it."

Red shifted uncomfortably. "Does anybody else have access to this?"

"Yeah," Blue nodded, "the Penny's division at SDC and Ironwood have access to everything except our rooms." His face turned sour and his voice dropped as he continued. "And MiSS is probably watching everything." Blue shook his head in annoyance. "They always do," he muttered to himself.

Red nodded. The Ministry of State Security was the Atlasian intelligence service and while they were ostensibly under the military they enjoyed an unnerving level of autonomy and lack of oversight. It was a public secret that they intercepted communications and hacked computers, and there were more unsettling rumors of assassinations, industrial sabotage, and three AM knocks on the door where people were taken away never to be seen nor heard from again. Most of the rumors were nonsense, but they were persistent enough to make people wary of publically criticizing MiSS.

Which was probably the reason they never tried to discourage the rumors, Red thought.

Red was driven from his thoughts by the arrival of Penny. She walked down the stairs with a smooth methodical gait, clad in the standard Atlasian military armor with the striped yellow coloring of a cadet. "I do not like this armor," she said, wearing a disgruntled expression under the visor.

Red smirked. "Still gotta to wear it," he said in a pacifying tone. "It protects you, and the visor display is really great. IR, night vision, the aura level of opponents, and you can tap into other troops vision."

She gave him a dubious look, though it was a little hard to tell with the visor down. "I can do all of that myself," she said. "It's redundant."

"There's value in redundancy," Blue cut in, dryly. "Also, if you're going to train, you need the uniform. You're a cadet, you wear the cadet armor."

Penny tilted her head. "Am I a cadet?"

"You are today," Red quipped.

"I thought I was designed to be a huntress," Penny replied.

Blue nodded. "Yes, but you're training with us."

"Shouldn't I be training at the Huntress Academy?"

"General Ironwood wants you training with us," Blue sighed, "but since he's the headmaster of the Huntsman Academy you'll probably get some instruction there sooner or later."

"General Ironwood is the headmaster of the Huntsman Academy?" Penny asked in a confused tone. "I thought he was in charge of the military."

Red and Blue looked at each other then back to Penny. "No," Blue said slowly, "General Ironwood is commander of Third Division. That's..." Blue looked up at the ceiling in thought. "That's a garrison regiment, they mostly do security for the Academy; the 6th Mechanized Airborne Regiment, that's us; a commando unit; and of course the Hunters." He looked down from the ceiling and back to Penny. "We're the only kingdom that puts hunters under the military."

"We're the only kingdom with a standing military," Red pointed out.

"Yeah, but they're not even under state control in the other three," Blue said, defensively. "They just do their own thing out there, I have no idea how they get along with that kind of disorganization." He cocked his head to the side and pointed questioningly at Red. "I'm forgetting something, aren't I?"

"The Fourth Air Wing?" Red answered incredulously. Blue snapped his fingers in frustration and nodded. "How did you forget that?" Red asked. "His dreadnaught passes over the city a couple times a day."

"Captains?" Penny interjected and the two turned back to her, having completely forgotten she was in the room with them. There was something about her that kept her presence from being felt. Maybe it was the lack of breathing or noise or the way she stood still as a piece of furniture, but whatever it was there was this voice in the back of their heads that told them they were alone, even when they had been conversing with her moments before.

"I'm sorry, Penny," Red said, "what is it?"

"Since I am with you, does this mean I am in the Sixth Mechanized Airborne regiment too?"

"You don't need to worry about that," said Red, dismissively. "You're basically a-" he stopped himself short. He'd been about to say 'piece of equipment' but fortunately realized there probably wasn't a worse thing to say to her, and it wasn't _really_ true, was it? That was probably exactly how the brass thought of her though, just a weapon to move around as needed. "You're a specialist," Red finished. "They make sure you're someplace you can learn and do good, and today that's combat training, so let's get to it."

The next two hours were spent training. Blue tested her aura, which Penny was quite talented in manipulating. They made sure she could project a shield over her entire body and could focus the shield to counter specific threats. Her aura was well above average, but surprisingly mid-range for a huntress. Penny looked embarrassed when asked about it and murmured something about power requirements and possible future upgrades.

She cheers up considerably when she tells the two that her average aura is more than made up by her being made of steel "instead of brittle human bones."

The Ericks agree that she shouldn't use her aura offensively in training after that. Getting hit by a steel fist was dangerous enough, wrapping it in an aura shield is just irresponsible.

Not that getting hit was a huge concern, not at first anyway. Penny was remarkably fast and strong, but had no style at all. She stood still, straight as a post, and flung her arms in wild gestures at Red who casually dodged or deflected every hit much to Penny's surprise.

"Did they not teach you any hand to hand?" Red asked incredulously, taking a step back out of Penny's reach as she threw a wild haymaker that whiffed through the air harmlessly.

"No sir," Penny replied, shaking her head. "They were going to, but Mr. Ironwood told them not to." She took a step forward and threw a random kick. Red caught it and held her foot at his waist as he turned to Blue.

"Why wouldn't they teach her how to fight?" Red asked his partner. "She's supposed to be a super soldier, right?"

Penny waggled her foot, trying to wrench it loose from Red's grasp. Red and Blue watched her with casual interest as she realized she wasn't going to get it loose and throw a wild punch that didn't come close to reaching Red. She looked from her foot to Red and back, waggled it again halfheartedly before giving it up as a lost cause and waiting patiently on one foot.

Blue watched all of this without comment. "Maybe they didn't want to teach it any bad habits," he said, turning his attention back to Red. "They're scientists, after all, not soldiers."

"I suppose," Red said, letting go of the girl's foot. "Okay, Penny, let's-" He stopped mid-sentence. Penny was still standing on her left foot, watching Red attentively. "Penny, put your foot down. Good, let's get you some good habits."

Captains Red and Blue set about teaching Penny basic stances and forms and started on some basic attacks and blocks. She was a fast learner, though both Captains took their time to ensure Penny had a thing down pat before moving on to the next and soon her speed was beginning to be matched by her precision. A fact demonstrated when Red was distracted by the doorbell ringing and found himself painfully launched into a wall by a hit to his chest.

"Red!"

"Oh dear, Captain Red, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Red said, perhaps too loudly. He took a personal inventory and decided that while nothing was broken, he much preferred to continue sitting on the floor instead of getting up. "I'm fine," he repeated, seeing the concerned faces of Penny and Blue. "I'm just gonna sit here for a minute if that's okay." He took a deep breath and winced at a sharp pain that went up his back. "Geeze, Penny, you hit like a truck."

Penny beamed. "Thank you, that is most kind."

The doorbell rang again. Blue tapped a button on his wrist and the wall lit up, showing two guards at the front door, their arms full of groceries. He looked to Penny. "Penny, we're done for the day. Go let them in and help bring in the groceries, okay?"

"Yes sir," she nodded, and turned to head up the stairs.

"And when you're done," Blue called after her, "you can change into your civvies."

Penny froze in place, one foot on the stairs. "I have to change _again_?" she asked in disbelief.

"Afraid so," Red said.

Penny started up the stairs again in an indignant silence. As soon as she disappeared out of view Red turned to Blue and quietly said, "She's going to go nuclear when she realizes she has to change into her pajamas tonight."

Blue looked at him for a moment before breaking into a smile and chuckling. "Glad your sense of humor isn't broken," he said.

"Just my pride," Red replied. "We're gonna have to underclock her or something sooner or later, otherwise we're never going to keep up."

"We'll think of something," Blue said, simply. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"More or less," Red said, stretching his back and feeling something pleasantly pop. "That girl's going to be the death of me."

"Better you than me," Blue replied. He offered Red a hand up, which was gratefully accepted and the two filed out of the training room sore, but in good spirits.


End file.
